(2) Select a desirable geographic area.  When selecting a new location, consider whether you have sufficient contacts in that area to get the clients you need.

(3) Consider negotiating business away from your current law firm, assuming this does not violate any agreements you have in place with the firm.

(4) Calculate your start-up expenses and create your budget.  Do not simply guess.  Start-up costs can truly become very expensive quickly.  Do your research on what exactly it is you need, and shop around.  And make sure your list is detailed.  Include things like lamps, light bulbs, pens, paper, and toner cartridges for the printers and copy machine.  But do not forget to include staple items in the budget such as business cards, envelopes, letterhead, and yearly holiday cards to send to your clients.  Research whether it’s cheaper to hire a contract secretary a couple of days a week, or whether you already have enough business to demand full-time staff.  And do not forget about your personal expenses such as health insurance, malpractice insurance, even the cost of meals your old firm use to pay for.  It all adds up!

(5) Consider the impact of your decision on your family and lifestyle.  Will it take up more or less of your time?  Each has its own impact and needs to be taken into account.

(6) You may want to consider writing articles and speaking at seminars before you leave your current firm.  This will help establish you as an expert in a specific field and begin the advertising process you will eventually have to start.

(7) Try to speak with others that have started a successful law practice and try to identify what mistakes they made and try to avoid them.  You may want to consider speaking with people that started a law practice and failed.  This will help you flush out additional mistakes they made and help you avoid those as well;

(8) Create a business plan, with a list of goals you want to achieve, and put each on a timetable.  Be realistic, and do not think you will be able to achieve every task within the first month of business; 

(9) Choose your corporate entity (partnership, professional corporation, professional limited liability company, etc.).  Note, each may have different tax consequences, consult a tax expert in advance of any incorporation process;

(10) Complete your business filing with the state, the IRS, and any other governing body your jurisdiction may require;

(11) Establish an accurate, reliable, and easy to use accounting system.  Most lawyers are not great bookkeepers, it is generally a good idea to develop a system of accounting that is simple.  There are two big reasons to have a reliable accounting system in place: (1) You need to keep track of money coming in and going out to determine if what you are doing is profitable; (2) Without reliable accounting records you will loose tax deductions and actually increase your tax liability in the event of an audit.

(12) Open bank accounts and trust accounts.  Many banks now have no fee accounts, try to find a bank located nearby that offers these types of accounts.

(13) Purchase insurance.  If you are branching out on your own, you likely not only need professional liability insurance, but, likely, health, automobile, life, premises, disability, and others depending on your life style, practice and location.

(14) Develop a calendaring method or docket control system that is accurate and reliable.  Missed appointments and deadlines can lead to loss business.

(15) Establish your fees and retainer agreements.  Though these are often times negotiated, a good retainer agreement should always be on file.

(16) Determine the staffing needs of your practice.  Can you handle it on your own in the beginning?  Do you need part time or full time staff?  Do not make the mistake of staffing your office and then waiting for the business to come in and pay for it.  Unless you have a limitless supply of money, make a realistic determination of what your staffing needs are and staff your office accordingly.

(17) Determine how you are going to bill your clients.  Depending on the types of cases you handle, will you bill monthly, quarterly, or are all of you fees on contingency.  And if your cases are all contingency cases, are you charging costs up front or not.  Or are you simply billing against a prepaid retainer (which generally will require a trust account).

(18) Determine the rules in your jurisdiction regarding a document retention procedure.  Each jurisdiction varies on exactly what your office’s document retention policy must be at a minimum.

(19) Put into place a conflicts policy.  You should have some method by which you can detect conflicts between various clients and matters in your new office.

(20) Furnish your office.  Determine, based on your budget whether it is more economical to rent your furniture, rent-to-own, or simply buy what you need.  Nonetheless, all these options are available if you shop around.

(21) Put into place your legal research tools.  Many times these are very expensive.  You may consider using library resources in your area if your budget is tight.  This may be inconvenient but is an economical method of getting legal research done in the lean months.

(22) Determine the proper vehicle for advertising.  For many practices the best form of advertising is word of mouth.  For others, ads in the local paper work well.  Try to find someone in your area of practice that has already been through the process to determine what works and what doesn’t.  This could save you hundreds of dollars – networking is generally the cheapest and most effective method of advertising.

(23) Finally, do not forget, generally you front the costs of court filing in most matters, so remember to include the initial costs of a case as part of your start-up budget for the first few cases you handle.  These are still liabilities until recouped.

While starting a law practice can be lucrative, exciting, and liberating, do not underestimate the time and money it takes to get started.  But with research and careful planning, you could be on your way to achieving great success.